The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus, printer driver, print setting method and data structure, and particularly to an information processing apparatus, printer driver, and print setting method in which a DEVMODE structure is used for print setting, and a DEVMODE structure.
When a printing device is used to print a document file, print setting is performed using a printer driver installed on a client's computer device connected to a network. The data is converted into a printing job in the Page Description Language format (PDL) and is sent to a printing device. Receiving the printing job, the printing device rasterizes the printing job (bit map development) to generate image data. This image data is then subjected to processes of screening and image adjustment and is outputted onto a paper medium.
Here, various settings of the printer driver (such as information about the model of the printing device that carries out printing ins rum and print setting information for the printing device) are stored in the client's computer device as data called a DEVMODE structure. Thus, if the DEVMODE structure is associated with a document file, the previous print setting can be used when that document file is later printed again. Accordingly; the printing operation can be simplified.
However, the information (DEVMODE information) stored in the DEVMODE structure depends on the printer driver of the computer device having given a printing instruction. Therefore, the above-mentioned DEVMODE information cannot be taken over when using a printer driver for a printing device of a different model or a printer driver of a different version, even if the DEVMODE structure has been associated with a document file.
For example, when the document Mr. A created using a printer driver for printing devices of Model A is to be employed by Mr. B using another printer driver for printing devices of Model B, or when the document Mr. A created using the printer driver of version 1 for printing devices of Model A is to be employed by Mr. B using the printer driver of version 2 for printing devices of Model A, new print setting must be made because there is no DEVMODE structure that supports printer drivers compatible with different models of printing devices or different versions of printer drivers.
In the case of dynamic switching of plurality of models such as when using a UPD (Universal Printer Driver), there are cases it is preferable to take over the print settings prior to model switching.
To solve these problems, for example, the Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2008-97574 discloses an information processing apparatus for generating data that can be processed by a printing device, with the information processing apparatus including: an information storage means for storing the function setting information which relates to the function of the aforementioned printing device; and a data structure assigning means for acquiring the function setting information from the information storage means and securing the area for assigning the print setting value to be set in conformity to the function setting information, to a data structure for storing the print setting of the printing device, and assigning the aforementioned area with the print setting value; and a data creation means for creating data that can be processed by the printing device from the print setting value assigned to the data structure by the data structure assigning means, by referring to the function setting information stored in the aforementioned information storage means.
Further, the Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2010-186324 discloses a printer driver wherein a computer is used to allow a printer to perform printing operations in response to a printing request given by an application program. The aforementioned printer driver includes a reference step of referring to the setting information of another printer driver installed on the aforementioned computer, and a setting step of performing setting operations of its own printer driver by using the setting value of the item required to set its own printer driver, out of the referred setting information to allow the computer to execute.
To ensure that a DEVMODE structure can be used by a printer driver for a different model or a printer driver of a different version, the DEVMODE structure of the original printer driver needs to be converted into a DEVMODE structure compatible with the printer driver of new model or a new version, as described above. However, a DEVMODE structure is described in a hard code (C language), which cannot be converted easily.
Further, to convert from the DEVMODE structure of a printer driver for a different model or a printer driver of a different version, it is necessary to store the structure definition of the printer driver for the original model or structure definition of the printer driver of the original version. Accordingly, when there are printer drivers for a plurality of models or printer drivers of a plurality of versions, the information to be stored will be increased to a huge volume.
Further, if the conversion origin is a printer driver for an older model or printer driver of an older version, the structure definition can be predicted. However, if the conversion origin is a printer driver liar a new model or printer driver of a new version, it is difficult to predict the structure definition.